ENERGY: African Sun may Light up European Homes

Twelve German companies have drawn up ambitious plans to meet at least 15 percent of the European electricity demand by 2020 from solar thermal power plants installed in the North African Maghreb region.

ENVIRONMENT: Swedes Going Green in Emergency

Patients in Stockholm can now be rushed to hospital in an ambulance that runs on processed sewage.

TRADE: African Producers Press Rich Nations on Cotton Subsidies

Representatives from four major cotton-producing African countries came to Washington this week to engage in a dialogue about what they consider to be unfair U.S. trade practices.

ENERGY-CHILE: Geothermal Debate Simmers in El Tatio

El Tatio geyser field, a tourist destination in the northern Chilean region of Antofagasta, is at the heart of a controversy over a geothermal energy project being developed four kilometres away. The entire area is claimed by Atacama indigenous communities, who now stand divided.

MIDEAST: Turkey Gets Boost from Pipeline Politics

The political geography of the modern Middle East has been affected for one hundred years by the appetite of westerners and other outsiders for the region's hydrocarbons.

ENVIRONMENT-NIGERIA: Playing With Fire

Nigeria's gas flare-out date has once again been extended - this time to 2011. The decision follows 25 years of political procrastination by the federal government and illegal behaviour on the part of major oil multinationals engaged in flaring associated gas (AG), the byproduct of oil production in the Niger Delta.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Take the Squeaky Clean Hydro Bus

The government of the state of Sao Paulo in southern Brazil has launched the first hydrogen-fuelled bus in Latin America - the first step towards environmentally sustainable public transport of the future.

ENVIRONMENT-MAURITIUS: Hold Your Fire

Mauritius appears to have a happy problem with the 400,000 tons of waste it produces each year. The island's only landfill is full and the government must decide whether to turn to incinerating waste - generating electricity in the process - or to compost it, to the benefit of farmers.

ENERGY: Germany Gets Some Nuclear Jolts

The faults at the nuclear plant at Kruemmel near Hamburg surfaced just three days after Chancellor Angela Merkel declared nuclear energy "indispensable" to Germany.

AFRICA: FAO Paper On Land Grab Is "Wishy-Washy"

The boom in the acquisition of arable land in Africa by foreign companies and governments has stirred an international debate between international institutions such as the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and non-governmental groups and independent experts.

SPAIN-EQUATORIAL GUINEA: More Trade, Little Pressure

Trade between Spain and Equatorial Guinea is flourishing, amidst calls by activists for the government of Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to push for democracy in this tiny country on the Atlantic coast of Africa, still under the yoke of dictatorship.

TRADE: Crisis Pushing Emerging Markets to Move Beyond the Dollar

The global economic crisis is pushing countries in regions with emerging markets, such as Russia and South Africa, to together move beyond the dollar-based economic model. Given their politico-economic similarities, these two countries should build on opportunities to share expertise and technology.

Q&A: "It’s Wrong to Burn Food of the Poor to Drive Cars of the Rich"

The world needs to overcome "the bizarre irony that rural areas, where food is grown, is home to cruel poverty and hunger," says Ismail Serageldin, former chair of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

TRANSPORT-BRAZIL: Recharge Your Batteries Here

Brazil has long been committed to developing alternatives to fossil fuels to power its vehicle fleet, to the extent that 90 percent of new cars sold in the country are flex-fuel, running on ethanol or gasoline in any proportion. Now the government is embarking on another technological field: electric vehicles.

CLIMATE CHANGE: 2020 Deadline Is the Crucial “Litmus Test”

"So who here thinks there will be a meaningful deal in Copenhagen?" Few of the more than 600 energy ministers, officials and experts from 80 countries attending the Vienna Energy Conference raised their hands in response to the conference moderator's question about the final round of climate negotiations this December in Copenhagen.

U.S.: House Passes Controversial Climate Legislation

Amid furious lobbying on both sides, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved landmark legislation Friday designed to reduce the nation's greenhouse emissions that contribute to global warming 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.

DEVELOPMENT: Green Energy for All by 2030?

While industrialised countries struggle to switch from climate-damaging, carbon-based energy to greener energy sources, much of the world is desperately energy poor, with 1.6 billion people having no access to electricity and 2.4 billion relying on wood and dung for heat and cooking.

SOUTH AMERICA: Anti-Nuclear Activists to Form Common Front

Environmental organisations in Chile plan to revive the anti-nuclear movement in the Southern Cone of South America, in response to vigorous lobbying by corporations and politicians in favour of nuclear energy in the region.

ENVIRONMENT: Earth Can Generate Summer out of Winter

Iceland manages to produce tomatoes, paprika and cucumbers all year round by harnessing geothermal energy locally, even though the growing season is short.

POLITICS-GABON: Will Bongo’s Death Signal a New Chapter?

As Omar Bongo Ondimba, the Gabonese president who died at age 73 in Barcelona on Jun. 8, is buried in Franceville in the south-west of Gabon on Thursday, his 41-year-reign as absolute ruler of this oil-producing country of 1.5 million has received mixed reviews.

Q&A: "The Global Crisis Is Really About a 140-dollar Barrel of Oil"*

Sitting in the restaurant of Vancouver's posh Fairmount Waterfront Hotel, the former chief economist for one of Canada's largest banks doesn't seem like the typical apocalyptic peak oil theorist.